The California Department of Justice launched an investigation into to the emergency response to the Eaton Fire, one of two large and devastating blazes that hit Los Angeles in January 2025.
The investigation will seek to determine whether there was potential race, age, or disability discrimination in emergency preparations and response in the historically Black community of West Altadena, according to an announcement from California Attorney General Rob Bonta.
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The Eaton Fire killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,000 buildings, becoming one of the deadliest fires in California history. The average age of the people who died was 77 years old.
According to the statement, his office will look at whether the systems and structures at play contributed to a delay in L.A. County’s evacuation notice and possible disparities in emergency response in West Altadena.
“The West Altadena community rang the alarm and brought compelling evidence to the attention of my office,” Bonta said in a statement. “We know that evacuation warnings for the historically Black neighborhood of West Altadena came many hours after these same warnings were sent to the rest of Altadena.
The investigation will be spearheaded by DOJ’s Civil Rights Enforcement Section. DOJ’s investigation will focus on potential violations of civil rights laws, according to Bonta’s office.
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Insurers have paid more than $22.4 billion on tens of thousands of claims from the L.A. wildfires, according to the latest data from the California Department of Insurance. A one-year report on the L.A. wildfires from Morningstar DBS Research called the fires “a significant stress event” for California’s property/casualty insurance sector.
The fires spurred numerous regulatory changes, and other investigations and actions. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara last year took legal action against the California FAIR Plan Association for reportedly denying and limiting smoke damage claims from wildfire survivors. Lara also launched a formal investigation into State Farm’s handling of thousands of insurance claims from wildfire survivors affected by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires in January.
Several homeowners who lost their homes in the wildfires filed lawsuits against three large insurers over claims payouts they say didn’t cover their losses. The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court this week. They say USAA and two AAA affiliated insurers underestimated the replacement cost of their homes and left them underinsured and without enough money to replace or rebuild their homes after the Jan. 7 wildfires.
Top photo: The Eaton Fire burns a residence Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 in Altadena, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope, File).
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